Study Reveals More Than 1 Million CyberCrime Victims Daily
A Norton by Symantec study revealed that the actual cost of global cybercrime is $114 billion annually. What is more shocking is the total bill for cybercrime footed by online adults in 24 countries placed at $274 billion over last year.
According to the Norton Cybercrime Report for 2011, more than two thirds of online adults have been a victim of cybercrime in their lifetime. Every second, 14 adults become a victim of cybercrime, resulting in more than one million cybercrime victims every day.
Globally, the most common type of cybercrime is computer viruses and malware with 54 percent of the 19,636 respondents to the study saying that they have experienced it in their lifetime. Online scams (11 percent) and phishing messages (10 percent) follow.
Among adults, men between 18 and 31 years old who access the Internet from their mobile phone as more likely victims of cybercrime.
Despite the severity of cybercrime, people are obviously not in tune with reality. This is manifested by the fact that while 74 percent of respondents say they are aware of cybercrime, many are still not taking precautionary measures: they do not protect their personal information online; about 47 percent do not review their credit card statements for fraud; and 61 percent don’t use complex passwords or change them regularly.
Adam Palmer, Norton Lead Cybersecurity Advisor, stressed the seriousness of cybercrime, saying:
“There is a serious disconnect in how people view the threat of cybercrime. Cybercrime is much more prevalent than people realize. Over the past 12 months, three times as many adults surveyed have suffered from online crime versus offline crime, yet less than a third of respondents think they are more likely to become a victim of cybercrime than physical world crime in the next year. And while 89 percent of respondents agree that more needs to be done to bring cybercriminals to justice, fighting cybercrime is a shared responsibility. It requires us all to be more alert and to invest in our online smarts and safety.”
Don’t you think it’s high time to change your year-old password?
